


Broken Strings (Dean x reader)

by revengingbarnes



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Doctor/Patient, F/M, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Injured Dean Winchester, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 08:26:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18362291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revengingbarnes/pseuds/revengingbarnes
Summary: Soulmate AU where you’re connected to your soulmate through a string on your finger. There’s just one problem. Your string is broken.





	Broken Strings (Dean x reader)

“Good morning!” You looked up at your colleague as she pulled open her locker a few doors down from yours. She was humming some song you didn’t recognize, an extra bounce in her step. She was always happy, but today seemed like a particularly good day.

“Someone’s buzzing today.” You commented, adjusting your scrubs, getting ready for the workday. She hummed in agreement, giving you a grin.

“I  _am_  buzzing.” She replied. “It’s mine and Elliot’s third anniversary.”

“Ah.” You managed to let out. “Congratulations, then.”

“Thanks.” She grinned. “What about you? You know, you should get going. Go find your soulmate. Follow your string.”

You forced out a laugh, shrugging. “Not right now. I’m in no rush. I’ll go find him when the time is right.”

She shook her head, huffing out a laugh. “You always say that, but I really don’t get it. Well, it’s your choice.” She patted you on the shoulder a bit before stepping out again, ready to start another hectic day at the hospital. You leaned against the lockers, letting your eyes fall shut.

Another day, another person shocked at your life decisions. You fiddled with your fingers, eyeing the little red string tied around your pinky. Only, the string ended a mere few inches from your finger, the end of it charred.

You picked at the end, feeling your heart break all over again. You wished, desperately, that could know why this had happened to you. Why something so impossible had suddenly turned your life upside down. You had never heard about the soulmate string being broken. Not ever. So you couldn’t even begin to understand what the hell had happened.

Even when someone’s soulmate died, the string connected them to their graves. A broken string was unheard of. Well, at least until now.

No one knew about your dilemma. Of course not. They couldn’t see any string besides their own. Naturally, they assumed you were living your life alone by choice. That automatically made you a freak, one of the only few people who didn’t cherish the soulmate bond.

If only they knew.

Princeton Plainsboro Training Hospital was busy all hours of the day, especially when you were working the ER shift. It was a great way to keep your mind off the constant loneliness encroaching on your mind. It kept you occupied for 36 hours straight, and by the time your shift was over, you were so exhausted that you fell into a heavy sleep for the entirety of your 12 free hours. Then, it was a repeat of the same routine.

Most people around you were with their soulmates, considering how easy it was to find them. Just follow the string. That just made things worse for you, seeing that  you had to deal with happy, lovesick people all the time. It was a real pain, and you didn’t know exactly how long you’d survive like this.

You were sure you would die before you even hit 40.

Today was like any other day in the ER. A busted knee cap here, an inflamed rotator cuff there. The highlight of your day was when a little girl offered you a lollipop for saving her father. With only an hour remaining of your shift, and exhausted beyond belief, the unthinkable happened.

A nurse grabbed at your arm where you sat, tending to a relatively mild wound on a teenage boy, making your head snap up towards her.

“Stab victim. Severe trauma. Need your help.” She managed to say between breaths. You nodded, excusing yourself from the patient and following her to the other end of the ward.

A man lay on the bed, torso soaked in blood. By the state of him, he’d been in a massive fight. His face was busted, lip split and blood pouring down the side. He was unconscious, which was good. Keeping him still would have been hard if he were awake.

“I’m trying to stop the bleeding but I can’t locate the source. There’s multiple wounds and way too much blood.” The nurse explained as you pulled on gloves, inspecting the man before you. Taking a deep breath, you got to work.

The major wound turned out to be a stab wound in his chest, missing his heart only by a few inches. It was hard to stabilize his breathing but you managed with the help of a whole team working with you. By the time he was mildly steady, all of you were beat.

“Go ahead,” you gestured to the nurse next to you, eyeing her blood covered scrubs. “Clean up. I’ve got it from here.”

“Are you sure?” You waved her off, leaving you and one nurse working on cleaning the blood off him before shifting him to a room. It would be best if his family didn’t see him like this. You had heard while you worked, a nurse saying the man’s brother was having a freak out in the waiting room.

As you wiped the blood off his face, his features came slowly into view. You realized that he was about 35 or so, and very handsome. You frowned as you worked, feeling a deep itch inside you. This felt weird.

You moved to his chest and then his arms, sterilizing as many of the cuts and scratches as possible. When you reached his hand, you froze.

A string. Tied to his pinky. A broken string.

It was exactly like yours. Red. A charred end.  _And you could see it._

You stepped back in shock, dropping the hand like it had stung you. Your heartbeat was rising, eyes not leaving the broken string. It was almost as if it was taunting you, daring you to believe what you thought it was.

You were about 13 when your string was burned off. You remembered when you told your parents about it, how they had laughed and shrugged it off as a joke. How horror gradually took over their faces as you grew older and made no move to set out in search for your soulmate. They had been mortified, desperately telling you to keep it a secret. You would be ridiculed, locked up in some cage, tested on like a lab rat. And they were right. When an anomaly like this happened, it wasn’t exactly accepted widely. Your life would be over if anyone found out.

Your parents didn’t realize that your life stopped being worth living the moment your string broke.

“Dr Y/L/N? Are you alright?” Your head snapped up to the nurse, who was eyeing you. “I can take care of this if you want. I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

You shook your head. “Actually, I’ll take it from here, Sherri. Why don’t you go ahead and check out?”

After some reassurance, the nurse helped shift the man out of the ER. You dismissed her when you were done, sighing as you stood next to the man, eyeing his hand again. There was no doubt about it anymore. He had to be your soulmate. For one thing, the itch inside you was still there, almost unbearable. It wasn’t unpleasant, you actually quite enjoyed it. It was like an anticipation, like something amazing was about to happen.

That scared you.

A man walked into the room then, snapping you out of your thoughts. He was extremely tall, large build, and long hair. His shirt was bloodied too, and you guessed he was the one who brought your patient here.

He rushed to the man’s bedside, eyeing him worriedly before turning to you.

“Is he going to be okay?”

You nodded quickly. “He lost a lot of blood and we had to do a transfusion, but he’ll be fine.”

Relief crossed over his features, nodding slowly.

“I’m Dr Y/N Y/L/N. I’m his attending physician. May I ask your name?”

“Sam Smith.” He replied. “This is my brother, Dean.”

 _Dean_. You took a breath, nodding.

“I’ll be in to check on him in a few hours. He needs to rest right now. You should too.”

The man nodded, still staring at his brother. On shaky legs, you managed to walk out of the room before the world could start spinning.

……………..

For as long as you were away from your patient, Dean, the itch wouldn’t leave you alone.

You wanted- no, _needed_ \- to be near him. The distance made you feel jittery, almost overhyped, until you couldn’t sit still. You took a shower, changed into clean scrubs, and spent the rest of your time pacing around the doctor’s lounge. Your exhaustion had long left you, and all you felt now was the constant surge of adrenaline in your veins. Once you were sure enough time had passed, you rushed back to where you wanted to be the most.

You halted when you saw that he was sitting up, talking to his brother who sat at his side. The conversation ceased when you appeared, both heads turning to look at you.

“I uh, I didn’t think you’d be up yet.” You cleared your throat, standing up straighter.  _Be professional._  “I’m Dr Y/L/N, how are you feeling Mr Smith?”

The man gave a half smile, making your heart skip. He shrugged. “I’ve been better.”

You nodded, moving closer to him. As you moved, you tugged the sleeve of your white lab coat down, hoping to hide the string on your hand. You used your other hand to evaluate his vitals, trying to obscure his view. If you could see his string, there was no doubt he could see yours.

“You’re injuries were extensive, but most were cuts and bruises. Your chest wound looks stable, so does the one in your stomach. I-” You hesitated. “Pardon my curiosity, but may I ask how this happened?”

The brothers remained silent, exchanging looks. Dean shrugged. “Let’s just say I was at a place where I shouldn’t have been.”

You nodded, not pressing the matter. In all honesty, you weren’t exactly thinking straight. Your long lost and unknown soulmate had shown up in your ER, bruised and on the brink of death, given you names that were very obviously fake. Yes, you had a friend check it out for you. There was no Dean or Sam Smith. At least, not ones that fit the person under your care.

You checked the IV stand next to Dean, still lost deep in thought. You yelped in shock when someone grabbed your arm, realizing it was Dean. He pulled your arm towards him almost forcefully, eyeing your hand. Specially, the broken string on your finger.

You watched, frozen, as the truth registered on his face, green eyes meeting yours when he realized what was going on. Sam was looking on, confused, trying to piece together what was going on. Dean’s free hand reached up to touch the end of the string, making you pull your arm away from his grip harshly.

A heavy silence had settled over the room as you and Dean looked at each other for a bit. The shock on his face had subsided slightly, replaced with sadness. The cuts and blemishes on his face made him look tired, broken. In a flash, you had turned and stormed out of the room.

…………

He was leaning against your car.

You stopped walking, fiddling with your car keys as you watched him. It was well into the night, your only source of light coming from the lamppost above your car. He still looked tired. His body was probably spending most of his energy trying to heal him. He looked up when he heard footsteps, eyes meeting yours.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed.” You managed to say.

He gestured as if to say he would be fine, pushing himself away from your car. “You never came back, so I had to come see you.”

You looked down at your feet, hearing him move closer and continue to speak. “Couldn’t exactly haul ass after finally meeting my soulmate.”

Your head snapped up, glaring at him and making his face drop. He froze where he stood, a mere two feet from you.

“Right.” You spat. “Your soulmate. A soulmate you’re not connected to.” You held up your hand. The string on your finger shone under the streetlight.

Dean sighed, nodding slowly and fiddling with his own finger. You watched his hands, thinking maybe you had been too harsh.

“I can explain that. I can explain everything.” He replied, voice low.

You looked at him, incredulous. “You knew?”

Silence. You couldn’t believe this. All this time you’d thought that your soulmate was in as much pain as you. Turns out, he was well aware of what was going on.

“You knew what was wrong? You knew what was happening? And you didn’t even bother to come find me?”

You stepped closer to him, wanting him to look at you as you spoke. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to live knowing you won’t ever have the happiness everyone else does? Knowing you will be alone for the rest of your life? Thinking no one cares about you?”

“You think-” Dean took a breath, face twisting with emotion. “You think it’s easy doing what I did? Knowing that I was sacrificing my happiness, my one shot at love? And I did it all to protect you.”

You reeled back like you had been slapped, horror washing over you. “ _You_ did this?”

Again, Dean fell silent.

Hot tears flooded your eyes as you stepped forward, pushing at Dean in anger. He stumbled a bit but didn’t fall, face showing resignation. Pain.

“Answer me, you son of a bitch!” You screamed. “You  _wanted_  me away?”

“Yes!” Dean yelled, finally, hard gaze on yours. “I wanted you as far away from me as possible.”

“Why?” You screamed back.

“Because people around me die!” Dean replied. “Everyone that I care about dies. My mom, my dad, every friend I ever had. Hell, even Sam died and came back like, twice already! There’s no way I could have watched that happen to you.”

You fell silent after Dean’s little rant, trying to make sense of his words. He sounded like nine types of crazy, but the emotion in his voice was too genuine for it to be some sort of excuse.

“When I saw that string-” Dean’s voice cracked. “I knew right then that I couldn’t keep you away. Even after I burned off the one thing that was keeping us connected, I still found my way to you. I-” He took a breath. “I can’t live without you. I thought I could. But I overestimated myself.”

You breathed deep, thinking about all that was said.

“I can explain everything.” Dean continued. “And maybe we could start fresh if it’s not too late.”

His eyes were brimmed with tears like yours. Here was the man who was the most important thing in your life, your other half, asking for a chance. After such a long drawn out yearning, this was finally happening.

“Okay.” You whispered, watching a small smile bloom on Dean’s face in relief. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, but okay.”

He nodded eagerly, shuffling closer to you. “I’ll tell you everything. All of it. And I won’t leave you again. Ever.”

You let him close the distance between you two, smiling when he hooked your hands together. “You promise?”

The smile on his face was bright and reassuring. “Cross my heart.”


End file.
